Nothing too new or exciting =P. I would love to buy these though, just wish they weren't so expensive, these things are tiny after all.

Actually, I don't know that I would. Seeing as I hide all my media devices, they all stream via the server. Which means I don't need to have the absolute quietest, just quiet enough, and small enough to hide. Thank god for HDMI, one cable is all you need, and thank goodness they make them long =P.

The great thing about thin-ITX is that the CPU position is standardized.

Not exactly true, they might be for Intel 1155 systems, or AMD FM1 systems (although I don't know), but they certainly are not for Atom and Brazos systems which are of course the simplest to cool anyway.

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Plus the boards have an integrated power supply.

Are you sure........ I have used a few ITX systems, and not one of them has integrated power circuitry so that you can just plug a 12v DC adapter into the back, although I have seen reviews of some of the new Atom boards from Intel that have this, others however use standard ATX power connectors.

What I don't understand is why someone doesn't make one of these type of cases with all of the heat-pipes attached to the sides and to the CPU block and then simply drop that onto a frame that the motherboard is already attached to and screw it down - that removes all of the hassle as with mATX motherboards all of the desktop sockets have a specific place, so you could just buy one of these for 1155, a different one for AM3 and another for FM1/2.

That would have to reduce the hassle and remove user cock-ups, the only thing the end user would have to do is to buy the correct model and buy a motherboard without a huge heatsink in the way of the heat-pipes.

I use my system as living room media center (windows 7 running xbmc), and as file server for my network. It has been running 24x7 for 6 months now (except for the reboots for windows updates) and have had no problems.It's got an Intel DH67GD mATX board, a Xeon E3-1260L quad core 45W proc, 2x4GB ddr3, 150W PicoPSU XT with 95W(?) brick, 1 SSD for the OS (hardmounted in front of the mainboard) and 2x 1TB 2.5" HDD (suspended, using some alu angle brackets next to the mainboard, mounted on the 3.5" drive mounting points. Sufficient room for 2x hdd above each other provided you do not want to install a pci card, and 1 at least with PCI card, potentially 2 if installed behind each other)

I tried one of the wesena/streacom IR receiver & remote kits, but was not too impressed. It is not a standard windows media center remote, only has a subset of the funtionality, and was a pain to get working with XBMC. So since I use an intel board with CIR header, I used a compatible receiver for that mounted internally with custom bracket on the cases IR window, which allows my harmony remote to work flawlessly as windows media center remote with xbmc.

The only small niggles I had with the build were mainly to do with the optical drive - even though i used one streacom recommends (it has to have its eject button on the left), it was a pain to properly align it with the button and get it to eject reliably. I even had to file down some of the case parts. Secondly the optical drive covers the corner of my mATX board which is ok but it limits me to use right-angle sata cables for 4 of my 5 sata ports. Lastly, I didn't realise the recommended drives all have slimline sata power connectors so I had to get a converter. I ended up making a custom cable from the picoPSU with connectors for all my drives. That was the only other pain point, the PicoPSU cable for the external connect point for the power brick wasn't long enough, so ended up extending it, and the same with the 12V connector for the PSU. If you are not comfortable doing this you would be better off the the streacom psu kit I guess.

Here's a pic of my build sans DVD drive:

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streacom.jpg

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You have said a lot about the build, problems and a lot of mods, but are you happy.? Could you recommend this to others (please take into account the amount of work you put into this above and beyond another (nosier) case) and the cost. Was it really worth it.?

Thanks.You have said a lot about the build, problems and a lot of mods, but are you happy.? Could you recommend this to others (please take into account the amount of work you put into this above and beyond another (nosier) case) and the cost. Was it really worth it.?Andy

Yes. Very much so. The case does exactly what I want it to, and I haven't regretted buying it at all.But there are several factors to this: 1) This case fit my requirements exactly. I had been looking for a case in this form factor (ie stereo equipment style, no taller than about 10cm) for well over a year. The looks were important to me as it sits in the middle of my lounge under the tv, and I wanted it to be stylish and understated. The fact that this is a fanless case was an added bonus for me but not a requirement. I had previously rejected a whole bunch of cases as not good looking enough, or too expensive (over 200 pounds).2) Amount of work. This is due to my nature, I am a tinkerer. I have tinkered with every PC I have ever built. I wouldn't be happy if there was nothing to tinker with 3) Cost - I know it is a lot of money but I had it available at the time, and I haven't regretted spending it. I see this case/system as a bit of an indulgence. Could I have had the same effect with a cheaper chassis? Probably, although finding a case this slim, with an aluminium front is surprisingly difficult. The fact that this is a fanless solution is further justification of the cost for me. The first time I turned it on and not heard it at all was a revelation!

I would heartily recommend the case for looks, quality and silence - but of course the decision of whether it is worth spending this amount of money on is not one I can make for others.

Saw this review here, and thought my experience might help:A month ago i made a new HTPC based on the upgraded FC5 Evo. This is pretty much same chassis, with a few changes: Less but more effectice heatpipes, better and more universal mounting for optical drive, USB(3) at the side of chassis, and a slightly improved finish on the front.Other components was:Asus P8H77-Mi3 3225 (the least powerconsuming CPU with HD4000GPU)KVR16N11K2/16 that showed up not to fit this MB (but works perfectly in a P8H77-I, but the ITX-MB does not fit the FC5....) in dual, but as 2 single.. Grmph.ST-OB2 optical driveNano 150 PSUHyperX 3K SSDUSB 3 internal cableHP MCE USB IR-receiver and Harmony Touch.

Mounting was relatively straight forward. A little fiddling with the cooling solution, the screws springs loosened some tiny flakes of aluminum that possible could short circuit the MB. Easy to vacuum, still something that should not happened. Its a bit thight here and there, so i.e. angled SATA-cables is a must. The optical drive use micro-SATA connector, a combined plug for both power and signal. This slimline connector did not follow the optical drive.Screws for mounting optical drive is easy to screw too deep into the drives chassis, preventing the mecanism to move. Some delicate job there, with some glue, was my solution. It could be prevented by better design on the screws.

The result is sweet! WAF is 98% The MB/OS/GPU is a nice combo: Very little (if any) hickups, even with several ON/OFF-cycles of receiver and TV, resolution (1080P) is maintained, sound is maintained. Both this was very annoying with my old setup (AMD 790GX with ATI HD3300 GPU). Both sound and picture has improved _alot_. The HP IR-receiver is a bulky box, but it has a tiny waterdrop-shaped extra IR-eye, as I use as the only visible "thing" except for the chassis itself.So: It does the job very nice, both regarding design, sound and picture. It's pricey yes, but if you're into a "sexy" well-working HTPC, its definately worth it.

I might want to add a FM/DAB-radio, but have not found a nice solution there yet.

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